Lincoln City have been given expert advice by a World Cup-winning coach in their quest to upset Arsenal in the FA Cup this evening and to return to the Football League this season.
Sir Clive Woodward, the former England rugby union coach, has spent time with Danny and Nicky Cowley, Lincoln’s management duo, and agreed to conduct an “audit” of the club.
Like the Cowley brothers, Woodward is a former teacher who turned to coaching and the pair expressed their admiration for him when the trio appeared on live radio after Lincoln’s victory away to Burnley in the fifth round.
Woodward has subsequently visited Danny, the manager, at his home in Essex to speak to him and Nicky, his brother and assistant.
“He came to Danny’s house last Sunday morning and I couldn’t get round there quick enough,” Nicky said. “Danny just rang me up and said, ‘He’s here’, and I was round there like a shot.
“You have to walk past Danny’s kitchen to get to his front door and, when I peered in through the window, there’s Sir Clive Woodward, England’s rugby World Cup winner, having a cup of coffee with my brother.
“He was so down to earth, so willing to share his experience. We have read his books and we are happy to borrow a lot of ideas from what he did with England’s rugby team and a lot of his ideas about the business of sport as well. It was a real treat to meet him.”
Danny added: “He’s going to come here again and do an audit of the football department, and that will be invaluable for us because, whatever division we are operating in next season, you always want to do things better.”
